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3 Sheets-Sheet 1 (No Model.) v

' 0. E. GARE-Y.

GAR BRAKE.

' No. 367,805. Patented Aug. 9, 1887.

N, PEIEHS. Fhnm-Lithngn her. Wauhlngtun. ma

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.. v

(No Model.)

0. E GAREY.

OAR BRAKE.

Patented Aug. 9, 1887.

N. PETERS. Phoivlhhugraphen WaI-hlnginn. D C.

(No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.. Y O. E. GAREY.

GAR BRAKE.

No. 367,805. Patented Aug. 9, 1887.

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N. PETER$ Plwkzrulhognphcn Wzshington, m;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

:OALEB E. GAREY, or NEW'YQRK, N. Y.

CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 367,805, dated August 9, 1887.

Application filed May 12, 1887. Shrial No. 237.933.

(No model.)

- brake mechanism which are especially applicable to ordinary street-railway cars, it being the object of the invention to simplify the construction of the mechanism,and thereby lessen the cost of production and at the same time make the mechanism more certain and reliable in its operation.

A full understanding of the invention can be best given by an illustration and a detailed description of the construct-ion and organization of the apparatus in which it is embodied.

All preliminary description of the invention will therefore be omitted, and a detailed description given, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure 1 is a plan view of the bottom framework and the running-gear of an ordinary street-car, showing the improvement in the brake mechanism which constitutes the present invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the same, taken on the line or w of Fig. 1, showing also the floor of the car. Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the principal parts of the brake mechanism. Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation upon the same scale,

/ taken upon the line x w of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 isa section on a still larger scale, taken on line y 3 of the same figure. Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9 are detail views of the'parts shown in Fig; 5; and Fig. 10 is a horizontal section upon an enlarged scale, taken upon line war: of Fig. 4.

Referring to said figures, it is to be understood that A. represents the wheels,B the axles, G the bottom frame-work, and D the floor, of an ordinary street-railway car. The wheels A are provided with brake-shoes E, which are carried upon the transverse bars F, and are supported by links G, which depend from the bottom framework, 0. The brake-bars F are connected by rods .H with alever, I, which extends transversely beneath the floor of the car, and is connected at its opposite ends by rods K and chains with the shafts ofthe brakehandles on the platforms at the opposite ends of the car. This arrangement is, in a general way, substantially the same as that which has been commonly employed in cars of this class. In the organizations which have been heretofore employed the lever I, which serves as a means for applying the brakes to the wheels, has been fulcrumed .at its center on a pivot, and the taking off of the brakes has usually been effected by means of flat metal springs which depended from the frame-work O, and were connected to the brake-bars F, and with this arrangement it was necessary to employ four of these springs.

invention is to do away with this large number of springs,and thus simplify the construction of the apparatus and reduce its cost. To effect this the lever I, instead of being fulcrumed upon a pivot, is suspended upon the lower end of a flat metal spring, a, which depends from the frame-work O or the floor D. This spring a is rigidly secured to the framework or floor in any suitable manner, so as to be prevented from turning. The preferred construction for accomplishing this is illus' trated in Figs. 5, 6, 9, and 10, in which the upper end of the spring is split for a short at its middle with a slot which is just sufficiently large to receive the end of the spring, and through which the end of the spring is passed. Thelower end of the spring is provided with an opening, 3, through which passes a-bolt, 6, by which a pair of clips, 10, are secured to the spring just beneath the lever I.' Each of the clips 10 is provided with an inwardly-inclined shoulder, 4, which fits against corresponding inclines formed on the edges of the lever, as best shown in Fig. 5, so

as to hold the lever in position and prevent it from raising on the spring.

The manner of assembling the parts thus constructed is as follows: The spring a will be inserted through the slot in the lever I and the lever raised just above the opening 3. The clips 10 will then be placed in position and the bolt 6 inserted through the opening 3 and secured in that position. \Vhen the parts are in this position, as shown in Fig. 5, they will be securely locked together, as will readily be seen.

The operation of the mechanism as thus far described is as follows: \Vhen the brakes are to be applied,the driver, operating the brakehandle at one end of the car, will, through one or other of the rods K, rock the lever I to the position shown by the full lines in Figs. 1 to 4, thereby drawing upon the rods H and applying the brakes in the usual manner. As the lever I is thus rocked, the spring a will be twisted fromits normal position, as bestshown in Figs. 3 and 4-, and thereby be put under torsion, under which torsion it will remain as long as the brakes are applied. As soon,however, as the driver releases the brake-handle, the torsion of the spring a will at once restore the spring to its normal position, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3, and thereby rock the lever I back to the position also shown by the dotted lines in said figure, and thus through the rods II swing the brake-shoes E away from the wheels, and the brakes will be held in this position by the spring (t until the lever I is again operated to apply them. It will be seen that by this means not onlyisthe singlespring a made to take off all of the brakes simultaneously, and thereby perform the function heretofore performed by four separate springs, but this single spring is also made to perform the additional function of supporting the lever I. Another advantage gained by supporting the lever I in this manner is that the lever is not mounted upon a fixed or rigid fulcrum, but is free to adjust itself within certain limits, and thus compensate for any slight difference in the length of the rods II or in the thickness of the brake-shoes, so as to always apply the brakes at each end of the car.

When the parts are in perfect order, the spring a will afford all the support that is necessary for the lover I; but as it might sometimes happen that one of the rods H would become broken, or that the spring (4 might be come broken, itis desirable to provide an auxiliary support for the lever I, which in case of an accident of this kind would still permit the brakes at one end of the car to be operated. For this purpose the clips 10 are provided at their ends with eyes 9, through which pass the eyes of a pair of stay'rods, I), which rods are connected at their opposite ends to eyebolts (I, which are secured to the frame-work C. The eyes and eyebolts (I allow sufiicientplay or lost motion of the rods Z to permit the lever 1 to rock freely and adjust itself for the purpose just stated, while at the same time they provide a substantially rigid fulcrum or center for the lever in case one of the rods II becomes broken, and they also afford a support for the lover I in case the spring a becomes broken.

In the constructions heretofore in use the rods II, which connect the lever I with the brake-bars, have been secured to the brakebars by passing through openings in the bars and being provided. with nuts on one or both sides of the bars. This construction was objectionable partly because it made it necessary to increase the thickness of the bars F at the points where the rods II passed through them, and partly because the constant bending of the rods II by the movements of the lever I caused the rods to frequently break at the point of their connection with the bars F. To cure this defect I do not connect the rods H rigidly to the bars F, but provide apivotal connection between the two. For this purpose the bars F are provided with clipsf, which are shrunk onto the bars, so as to beheld securely in position, and are connected to the rods H by means of eyebolts g, which enter hollow nuts 71 as shown in Fig. 10. 3y this means not only is the extra thickness of the bars F at the points of their connection to the rods H rendered unnecessary, but a pivotal connection is provided between the rods II and the bars F, which does away with the danger of the rods becoming broken at that point. By this construction, also, a ready means is afforded for adjusting the length of the rods II to suit brakeshoes of different thickness or as the shoes become thin by wear.

The spring (t, as herein shown, is a flat spring, and this is the preferred form. It may, however, be of other forms without departing from my invention. In some casesit may be desirable to make it of round form, or in some cases it may be desirable to use a spiral torsion-spring instead of a flat or round spring; or, in fact, the spring may be of any desirable form to accomplish the purpose intended without departing from the essential. features of my invention.

It is also to be remarked that the stay-rods 1), instead of being connected to the clips 10, may, if preferred, be connected dircctl y to the lever I.

lVhat I claim. is-

1. The combination, with the central brakelever, I, connected to the brake-bars F, of a single torsionspring, as a, connected at one end to the lever and rigidly connected at the other end to the car, and arranged to support and form a yielding center for the lever and to'rock the lever to remove the brakes from the wheels, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the lever I, connecting-rods II, bars F, and brakes E, of a single spring, as a, having one end secured to the car and the other to the lever I, for rocking said lever, and the stay-rods I), connected to the car and arranged to form, in connection with the spring, a rigid center for the lever in case of the breaking of one of the connectingrods H, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the lever I, having a spring by which it is rocked to hold the brakes from the wheels, of the brake-bars F, provided with the clips f, the rods H, having the hollow nuts h and the eyebolts g, forming adjustable and flexible connections between the rods H and the clips, which connections are located in close proximity to the bars F, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the lever I, having a yielding central support, connecting-.

rods H, bars F, and brakes E, of a spring arranged to rock said lever to hold the brakes from the wheels, and the stay-rods 1), connected to the car and arranged to form a rigid center for the lever in case of the breaking of one of the rods H, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the lever I and spring a, of the clips 10, having the inclined shoulders 4 and eyes 9, and the stay-rods b,

. connected to the car, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my 2 5 hand in the presence of two subscribing witmesses.

CALEB E. GAREY.

Witnesses:

' T. H. PALMER,

GEORGE H. BOTTS. 

